Is Bob Arum playing safe with Manny Pacquiao's next fight

With Floyd Mayweather Jr Vs. Juan Manuel Márquez fight postponed to September later this year due to Mayweather's rib injury, any chance of either of the two facing Manny Pacquiao may not happen till mid of next year. So who should Pacquiao fight next is a multi-million dollar decision. He is a prized fighter and there is a line of challengers waiting to face him. Who is the lucky one is what Paquiao's camp is working on these day.
As per reports, Miguel Cotto is coming out to be the chosen one. Question here is that is he the right choice for Paquiao.

Let us examine the possible alternatives. Firstly the big question is on what weight the fight should happen. I feel that the Super lightweight (140 lb) is the ideal weight Pacquiao should take the fight. As we saw in Ricky Hatton's fight, he is best at this weight. So who all can be his opponents at or around this weight (+- 4 lbs)

One boxer that readily comes to our mind is Shane Mosley. He is a world class boxer with huge fan following and a formidable opponent for Pacquio. This no doubt can be the best fight we all would witness in present times. However he is little too bigger for Pacquiao. At 5'9'' and fighting at 147lb he can no way make it near 140 lb. I think this was perhaps main reason for talks between these two camps to breakdown and another may be split of fight purse as Mosley's camp would want a close 50-50 split.

Next can be Andre Berto. Undefeated welter weight (147 lb) champion. He may not have that a big fan following right now which may deter Pacquiao's camp to take a fight. Another reason can again be his reluctance or inability to make it to 144 - 140 lb range.

As we move down the weight category to 140 lb we have an option of Andreas Kotelnik or Timothy Bradley or say Nate Campbell. Kotelnik is busy fighting Amir Khan, Bradley may be less experienced and Campbell may be too old to take on Pacquiao. Also none of these fighters have a big fan following to make a great PPV fight.

Lets move further down to 135 lb category. One name that comes to my mind is of Edwin Valero. He is is a great fighter, a south paw, has tremendous punching power and speed. Just like Pacquiao! Further he is available and has shown interest in fighting Pacquiao. What more adds to the fame of this guy! He is currently Lightweight WBC champion. He holds a perfect record of 25 victories and all these coming by a way of knockouts. Infact first 18 of his fights were won with a KO in first round itself. He may not have fought many quality fighters till date, but he surely deserves a chance to take on one, and who could be a better opponent than Pacquiao. I think this fight is the best fight which Manny Paquiao camp should consider as next one.
Here are few reasons for same:

1. Both boxers have same size and the contracted weight to fight would be ideal for both. They both would be in best shape making it a great fight to watch.
2. They both have similar energy levels, speed and punching power.
3. Purse negotiation won't be any problem for Pacquiao's camp and even a 65-35 split can be arranged.
4. There would be great air behind the fight. Valero has a good fan following now, has fought in USA and has a claim to fame that is always knocked his opponent down.

Coming back to the choice of Cotto. I just don't think it is a good choice. Cotto seems like a fighter on a decline and had struggled to win against Clottey in his last bout. Also there may not be much air behind the fight.

Where do we go now!

Sachin

Floyd Mayweather jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez and the winner is Manny Pacquiao

Every decade of professional boxing witnesses extreme competition in some or the other weight category. In 70's it was heavyweight division with Mohammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman fighting for the top crown. We witnessed some of the best boxing bouts among them in that decade. Come 80's and the action sifted to welterweight-middleweight category with Sugar Ray Leonard, Thommas Hearns and Marvin Hagler giving us some of the best bouts among them for this decade. Come this century and clearly focus has shifted to the lightweight-welterweight categories. These weight divisions are extremely competitive with some of the best rated boxers fighting here. Well some day I would try to list great bouts to watch and believe me list would be very long!

On the day of Hatton Vs. Pacquio fight a big announcement was made. Mayweather Jr. decided to come out of a 16-month retirement to fight Marquez on July 18th. With now 1 1/2 months left for this bout it has started gaining interest of boxing fans across the globe. Bout is on HBO PPV and maybe fought at catch weight of 144lb. This is a non-title bout and I think Marquez would still be keeping his lightweight WBA and WBO titles. Mayweather is a younger, bigger boxer here and is 3/1 favorite to win this bout. However predicting in boxing is also dangerous and upsets happen all the time. Remember when Buster Douglas being 40/1 underdog defeated Tyson for the unified heavyweight crown. Anyway we are not here (right now) to discuss this fight. We may do so as the due date approaches, we would like to study the impact of this bout on next big fight that may happen towards end of the year.

Irrespective of the outcome of this fight the person to gain maximum out this is Pacquio. Today Manny is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. A fighter whom everybody would love to challenge. He has a very large fan following, his bouts would directly go as PPV and would guarantee few million dollar purse to the challenger. If you are looking for retirement and would like to make decent money to support rest of your live, challenge Pacquio! Today both Mayweather and Marquez would like to challenge Pacquio and who would that (first) person be, is this fight all about. So person to gain for this for a even bigger fight is Pacquio.

Lets look at Marquez. He is a great fighter, probably towards end of his career. He has fought Pacquio twice. First in 2004 where he came back from three knockdowns in first round to notch up a draw. Second in 2008 when he lost a close split decision. A re-match is definitely in line and fans and boxing pundits eagerly waiting for that. Professional boxing is all about negotiating right contracts and right fights at right time. Pacquio's promoter Bob Arum said, the fight will happen but only after there is time to "put a little air" under it. I think there is no better time then now and all the air is under it! If Marquez wins he would get to challenge Pacquio and Pacquio would fight because this would be the biggest fight he can get.

Lets look at Mayweather Jr. He is no doubt a great boxer. He has clean record, never lost a single professional bout and was best pound for pound fighter before his retirement. The title which now belongs to Pacquio. So who is the best pound for pound fighter? Whole boxing world is eager to know that. Mayweather is perhaps the best boxer whom Pacquio would like to fight. This fight would again be a big fight with both boxers having a large fan base. What would make the fight even more interesting would be completely different geographies/culture each boxer represent. Good enough to generate right kind of hype around this fight. So if Mayweather wins he would get to challenge Pacquio, more so Pacquio would like to fight Mayweather as this would again be the biggest fight he can get.

Pacquio is at a stage where his team should choose best of fights for him. He is right at the stage where if everything executed professionally would take him to the path of greatest boxer in the history of sport (both fame and fortune wise), and more pre-challenge fights like this one is what he would like to see.

And we'll keep on fighting - till the end!

Sachin